


9 - Stranded

by BubbaKnowlton



Series: Whumptober 2018 [Disko kid edition] [10]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Huddling For Warmth, M/M, Whumptober 2018, injury/burns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-20 02:09:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17613437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubbaKnowlton/pseuds/BubbaKnowlton
Summary: Honestly, Ben thinks, it's like the Prophets are trying to kill their son. / Whumptober 2018-“Dad, wake up!” Benjamin could feel someone shaking his shoulder. His head throbbed, and it took him a few seconds before he could open his eyes. Jake was kneeling next to him, eyes wide and shining with concern.“What happened?”





	9 - Stranded

**Author's Note:**

> uhhhh im not Too happy with this one but im sick of looking at it so. here it is lmao.

**#9 - Stranded**

“Dad, wake up!” Benjamin could feel someone shaking his shoulder. His head throbbed, and it took him a few seconds before he could open his eyes. Jake was kneeling next to him, eyes wide and shining with concern.

“What happened?”

Jake’s shoulders sagged with relief and he helped Ben sit up before answering. “The shuttle crashed. Some kind of electrical storm knocked us down. I got a couple of bruises and a little burnt before you beamed us out, but the medical kit had a dermal regenerator. Joey’s perfectly fine, somehow. We’re both okay.”

“And Dukat?”

“He woke up a few minutes ago. He got pretty burned, so I gave him the medical kit after I finished healing you.” Jake looked around, and Benjamin finally took in that they weren’t anywhere near the runabout. He was sitting on the ground, and it was fairly warm. There were a few sparse plants among the rocks and gravelly soil. “The shuttle lit itself on fire, so I didn’t have time to check what system we’re in.”

“That’s alright, Jake-o. We’re all alive, that’s what matters.” Jake smiled a bit. “I’ll try to get a signal out so someone can pick us up. Let’s go see how your brother is doing.”

-

Joey held up his arms as soon as he saw them, chirping happily. Benjamin knelt down next to him and Dukat, and the toddler crawled to him. The boy purred as he was picked up, his whole, tiny body vibrating with the intensity of it. “Hey, Jojo, how are you?”

While Joey was free of injury, Dukat had burns on his arms, legs, and face. He was running the dermal regenerator over a more severe burn on his cheek. “Joseph is unharmed. Thankfully, he’s still small enough that I could easily shield him from the rupturing conduits on the shuttle.”

“Hear that, Joey?” The toddler looked over at his brother when he heard his name. “It’s good that you’re so tiny! I guess Doctor Bashir doesn’t have to worry anymore.”

Benjamin passed Joey to Jake. “Why don’t you two take my tricorder and look around? Don’t go too far.”

“Sure! Ready to go on a mission, little bro?” Jake walked off, tricorder beeping. Joey waved goodbye to them, peeping. Benjamin waved back. They rounded a large rock.

Turning back to Dukat, he offered, “Here, let me.” The dermal regenerator was dropped into his hand, and he ran it over the burn. Once the injury was healed, he noticed the intense look that Dukat was giving him. It made him pause, and the unbidden thought that it was very similar to the expression that eventually led to the day Joey was plopped down on his desk came to mind.

Swallowing, he looked down at the other burns. If he matched them up to the marks on Dukat’s shirt and pants, they made a toddler-sized scorch mark. He would have been curled up around the hatchling to protect him.

“Thank you.”

“For what, Benjamin?”

“You saved Joey’s life. He wouldn’t have survived these kinds of burns.”

“Of course. He’s our son.”

-

The sunlight went away far quicker than Benjamin thought it would, and Joey started whining as he worked on trying to fix the shuttle’s signal transceiver. The fires had gone out while Jake explored, and he’d come back to tell them.

Jake was sitting next to him as he worked, writing on his padd. “Hey, Dad,” he asked, voice low, “you and Dukat were pretty close together when we got back, huh? I love Joey and all, but I don’t think I’m ready for another half Cardassian sibling.”

“You’re not-!” He stopped. Joey made a loud noise, and Benjamin could see he and Dukat were now looking in their direction. Sighing, he got back to work. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

“I mean, I’m going to, but thanks. He was looking at you pretty weird.”

“Yes, I noticed.”

“You were looking at him pretty weirdly too.”

“Jake.”

“Dad.” Jake was quiet for a minute, letting him settle back into rerouting power. Then, “Ziyal says her father really likes you, and Nog said she wants you to be her stepfather. You have her approval.”

Though he wanted this conversation to end and never get brought up again, he couldn’t resist the urge to joke around a bit. “I know Joey would love to have both of his parents on the station. Or even Cardassia. Do I have your approval?”

“No. I’m never moving to Cardassia, and I don’t want a stepdad.”

“Great. Because you’re not getting one. Ziyal will have to be disappointed.”

“Are you talking about Ziyal?” Dukat asked.

“Just wondering why she didn’t want to come with us,” Jake lied, raising his voice enough to be heard properly.

“She wanted to attend a Bajoran festival with Nerys. I thought she told you that.”

“Oh, right. I forgot. On Bajor, right?” Joey whined again, curled up tight into a ball in his father’s arms. “Hey, Dad, it’s getting kind of cold.”

He’d been too absorbed in fixing the transceiver to notice that as it got dark outside, the temperature in the cracked open shuttle had begun to drop. “Jake, why don’t you hold your brother? Your body heat should keep him warm.”

“Sure.”

-

Jake let Joey crawl into his shirt as the temperature continued to fall, and the two of them nibbled on some rations they’d found under a panel. “Try to keep him awake, Jake-o. Dukat, how are you doing?”

When he didn’t receive a response, he looked over, concerned. The Cardassian was asleep, slumped over where he was leaning against the runabout wall. Damn, Benjamin thought, hurrying over to him. He angled his head up. “Dukat!”

Both Curzon and Jadzia had joked to him about how funny it would be if he had to serve as a living heat warmer since humans were so good at staying warm. With Jadzia, he’d replied that he found it very likely since he already functioned as one for Joey. She’d just smirked at him, saying Joey didn’t count, and he now realized what she’d been implying.

She was going to find this hilarious as soon as they were all back home, safe and sound.

“You know, Dad, I really don’t want another sibling,” Jake said, giving him a forced smile as he got Dukat to walk over to the other side of the shuttle so he could continue working while keeping him warm at the same time. The Cardassian’s movements were sluggish as Benjamin lowered him down, and he almost tipped over. Benjamin wrapped an arm around his waist to keep him up.

“Jake-o.”

“Just trying to lighten the mood.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow/talk to me on Tumblr: @oblio-k


End file.
